Improvement in cupboards



L. SPANGLER.

CUPBOARD.

ATTORNEY Patented Jan.

WITNESSES; 7'

N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITMOGRAPNER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS SPANGLER, OF AUBURN, INDIANA. A

JIMPROVEMENT IN CUPBOARDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. [72,793, dated January 25, 1876; application filed December 27, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known thatI, LEWIS SPANGLER, of- Auburn, DeKalb county, Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Cupboard, of which the following is a specification:

Figure 1 represents a front elevation of my improved cupboard; Fig. 2, a vertical transverse section of the same; and Fig. 3, a top view of the operating mechanism of the elevator of the cupboard.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. a

My invention relates to an improved cupboard for hotels, restaurants, boarding-houses, and private residences, which is arranged to extend-through twostories and placed in the dividing- Wall between kitchen and diningroom, to be accessible from both sides, to render the use of the cupboard available in a convenient manner for the difierent purposes for which it is devised.

My invention consists of a cupboard constructed to extend through two stories connecting the kitchen and dining-room floor with the cellar-floor below. It is set into the dividing-wall of the kitchen and dining'room, and arranged with doors at both sides to give access from either side.

The cupboard is arranged with sinks, hinged tables at both sides, and an elevator that is raised and lowered by hoisting mechanism, to connect with the cellar.

A refrigerating and other shelves serve to preserve articles that have to be kept in a cool state.

In the drawing, A represents a cupboard of such height that it extends through two stories, preferably, from the cellar to the kitchen and dining-room story above.

The cupboard A is made with two fronts that are closed by folding doors to give access to both sides, so that when the cupboard is set into, or flush with, the wall, dividing din ing-room and kitchen, the articles stored on the shelves may be taken out with equal facility from either room. Crockery and other articles stored on the shelves are thereby readily within reach, whether they are needed from the kitchen or dining-room.

The cupboard is divided, by a vertical partition-Wall, into two main sections-one part,

. B, being stationary, while the other part, 0, is arranged with an elevator, D, that can be raised or lowered, as required, either above or below the kitchen-floor.

The stationary part Bis made with shelves for the storage of articles that are not needed in the cellar, while the elevator serves to raise up apples, butter, eggs, and other provisions that require to be kept in a cool place. The

elevator D is also provided with shelves, and

at its middle part with a suitable refrigerating-shelf, D, for the storage of perishable articles.

The lower shelves of the refrigerator are arranged with guard-boards to admit storing, raising, and assorting of apples, potatoes, and similar articles.

The refrigerating-shelf D is, when the elevator is raised, on a level with the hinged tables E, which are arranged at both points of the cupboard to open or close laterally the corresponding shelves, as desired.

The cupboard A is constructed at the height of the kitchen-table of greater width to admit the arrangement of a sink, F, which is supplied with hot and cold water and pipes to drain off the Swill-water to a suitable tank.

The kitchen-table E is supported on movable legs E that slide in guides of the cupboard, to be pushed in when the hinged leaf E is thrown up to close the sink.

When the leaves of both sides of the cupboard are opened, and also the inside doors that divide the shelving .from the sink, a direct communication is established between kitchen and dining-room, so that dishes, 850., may be handed in or out for cleaning or use. They may be directly cleaned in the sink and then stowed away, so that the carrying of dishes from the kitchen to the dining-room and back again is obviated, and a considerable saving in time and labor produced.

The elevator D is guided in central side strips a, and raised and lowered by a mechanism arranged in a space separated by a partition-wall from the elevator-section.

The hoisting mechanism is constructed with aview to a proper balancing of the elevator, and the easy working of the same without friction or jerky motion.

The hoisting mechanism G is operated by a hand-crank, b, with ratchet wheel and pawl arranged outside of the cupboard and in front of the wall, at the portion abutting forward into the kitchen, so that the crank may be turned without difficulty.

The crank turns a grooved drum or roller, (1, on which a cord, 6, is wound in opposite directions, one end passing up and over a top pulley, c of the cupboard to a weight, 6 at the end that is raised when the elevator is lowered into the cellar story, and lowered when the elevator is raised by the crank, the weight serving to assist the raising of the elevator, and also keep the cord in proper tension.

The other end of cord 6 passes over two top pulleys, f, of the cupboard-frame, and then down to a central pulley,f, at the top of the elevator, and .up again to an eye-screw or other fixed point of suspension.

A second cord, g, passes sidewise of th first cord 6 from a separate point of suspension' at the top part of the cupboard over a second pulley, 9 of the elevator, and then over two pulleys, 9 at the top of the cupboard into the weight-box, where it is weighted at the end so as to properly balance the elevator.

The elevator is thus cont-rolled with great facility by the weighted hoisting-rope in connection with central suspending, guiding, and balancing devices of the same.

This hoisting mechanism takes up a very small space and admits the easy operation of the elevator with the weights arranged at one side only, which makes this construction superior to the common weights and pulleys,

especially as it requires, when once adjusted,

no further adjustment.

I reserve the right to make a separate application for Letters Patent on the hoisting mechanism described.

I do not confine myself, however, to this special construction, as many other means of raising and lowering the elevator may be employed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A cupboard extending through two stories and abutting at one side to form a sink, substantially as described.

2. A cupboard extending through two stories, substantially as specified.

3. A cupboard extending through two stories, and being accessible from one or both sides at the upper and lower story, substantially as specified.

. 4. A cupboard extending through two stories, and divided into a stationary shelf part and an open part with an elevator that is equal in height with the lower story, and raised and lowered by suitable mechanism to establish communication of the upper and lower story, as set forth.

LEWIS SPANGLER. 'Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL, T. B. MOSHER. 

